Trapping beavers requires using some specialized equipment that might be beyond junior furktakers, some think.
Photo: Pixabay
Pennsylvania has youth-only seasons for hunting squirrels, rabbits, pheasants, spring gobblers and waterfowl.
Might a youth-only beaver trapping season be next?
Game Commission officials are debating that as a way of getting more kids ages 12 to 16 involved.
Participation is on the downslide right now, it seems.
Matt Lovallo, supervisor of the game mammals section for the commission, said the number of youths buying either a junior furtaker or junior combination license has remained relatively steady in recent years.
Evidence of a beaver at work at Yellow Creek State Park.
The commission sold a combined 50,392 such licenses in 2011-12, for example. The number was 52,574 in 2016-17.
Actual participation in trapping has been lagging, however.
A total of 7,434 kids trapped in 2011-12. Last year, just 5,436 did.
“I think we can all agree that’s not a trend we want to see continue,” Lovallo said.
Might a special beaver trapping season reverse that?
Right now, trappers – counting those of all ages – take about 12,000 beavers a year statewide on average, Lovallo said.
Youngsters account for a very small percentage, he noted.
Raccoons and muskrats are the species they do best on, followed by opossums, mink, red foxes and skunks.
“I think it’s safe to say that if we did provide any additional opportunities to take beavers for junior furtakers, it would have little or no impact on our statewide harvest. And we certainly have no biological concerns or issues with that type of proposal,” he said.
There are other issues, though, he said.
Equity is one.
Annually, 60 to 70 percent of the beaver harvest comes from just five of the state’s 23 wildlife management units: 1A, 1B and 2F in the northwest corner of the state and 3C and 3D in the northeast.
So not all youngsters would benefit from a youth season equally, Lovallo noted.
There’s the issue of value, too.
Animal pelts reach their peak of “primeness” – the time when furs at most valuable to sell – at different times, Lovallo said. Most hunting and furtaking seasons overlap with that.
There are exceptions.
The commission allows for the taking of species like skunks and raccoons well away from that for the sake of nuisance control.
Beavers, though, don’t hit their prime until late February of early March.
The talk about a youth beaver season has revolved around offering it in November or December, to coincide with when kids are off school for Thanksgiving and Christmas break.
Pelts would have “very low market value” then, Lovallo said.
He also pointed out that beaver trapping is done using large body-gripping traps.
“Those aren’t the traps young trappers should learn to trap with,” he said.
Those are all valid concerns, said commissioner Jim Daley of Butler County. Still, he believes there’s some potential for a youth season of some sort.
“I guess what I’m encouraged by is we may be able to provide some additional opportunity. I don’t see a real reason not to,” he said.
Lovallo didn’t disagree. But it’s clear he has concerns.
“So I’m not sure how we should move forward on this,” he said.
He suggested the commission convene a meeting with the Pennsylvania Trappers Association and some of its own experts in recruitment and retention strategies before making any decisions.
Commission president Brian Hoover of Chester County likes that idea.
“I think that’s a good way to get started anyway,” he said. “I wouldn’t want to see us impact the resource.”
